31 December 2016

Our crime fiction books and shows of 2016

2016 was another bumper year for Irish crime fiction, from a wide range of newcomers to the latest offerings by the likes of Tana French and Adrian McKinty. It also saw the publication of Trouble Is Our Business, a terrific anthology of short stories edited by Declan Burke. Here are our picks of the year.

29 December 2016

A Spanish best-seller set in Donegal



Writer and musician Mikel Santiago drew on his experiences in Donegal for his debut novel The Last Night At Tremore Beach. Already a best-seller in his native Spain and with the translation rights sold in 12 countries, the book's English-language version will be published in March 2017.

20 December 2016

'Captivating Criminality' conference in Bath


"Crime Fiction: Detection, Public and Private, Past and Present" is the theme of a major interdisciplinary academic conference in Bath next June. The fourth Captivating Criminality event takes place at Bath Spa University from 29 June to 1 July 2017.

15 December 2016

Rory Gleeson's debut 'Rockadoon' novel


Irish writer Rory Gleeson's debut novel Rockadoon Shore will be published in January 2017.

13 December 2016

Upcoming crime fiction events for 2017


Here are some of the crime fiction related events taking place in Ireland and abroad in 2017. More details throughout the year...

28 November 2016

Aberdeen to get 'Granite Noir' festival



Aberdeen is to host its first "Granite Noir" crime fiction festival from 24 to 28 February 2017. There will be talks, film screenings and workshops, and guests include leading writerrs Denise Mina, Christopher Brookmyre and Stuart MacBride and some Scandinavian authors.

24 November 2016

Retired diplomat creates Belfast detective series


Development aid consultant and retired diplomat Derek Fee has published seven non-fiction books as well as five thrillers featuring a Belfast-based PSNI detective.

21 November 2016

Andrew Hughes pens second historical crime novel


The Coroner's Daughter is Andrew Hughes's follow-up to his debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt (2013). Due to be published in February 2017, it features a young female sleuth operating at the dawn of modern forensic science.

17 November 2016

Tana French and Graham Norton in book awards


The Trespasser by Tana French has won the crime category in the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Graham Norton's debut novel Holding was winner in the Popular Fiction Book of the Year category, and Liz Nugent's Lying in Wait took the "Ryan Tubridy Show Listener’s Choice" award.

15 November 2016

Karen Perry novel 'Girl Unknown' for TV


Tiger Aspect, the people behind BBC gangster saga Peaky Blinders, are planning a TV series based on the "Karen Perry" novel Girl Unknown, the psychological thriller by writing duo Paul Perry and Karen Gillece.

Meanwhile the Irish Times reports that the Dublin-based duo are also working with Irish film company Subotica on the adaptation of their first novel together, The Boy That Never Was.

8 November 2016

Debut author: Allan McCreedy



Systems Failing is Allan McCreedy's first full-length novel, a thriller set in Belfast and Dubai and introducing freelance computer analyst Clark Radcliffe.

7 November 2016

Former Garda detective pens police procedural


Former Garda detective T.R. Croke's debut novel The Devil's Luck is published this morning. The police procedural and conspiracy thriller features
Detective Kate Bowen of Dublin’s Surveillance and Intelligence Unit.

5 November 2016

Crime fiction night at Laois Leaves Festival


The Laois Leaves Literary Festival includes a crime fiction night at Dunamaise Arts Centre on Saturday, 12 November. Irish authors Louise Phillips, Niamh O’Connor and Andrea Carter will be joined by visiting writer Thomas Enger, the Norwegian author of the Henning Juul series.

4 November 2016

'T2: Trainspotting' official trailer



T2: Trainspotting is set 20 years after the original Trainspotting film, with the same main characters and cast (Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Kelly MacDonald), and director Danny Boyle.

3 November 2016

Chris O'Dowd begins shooting 'Get Shorty'


Irish actor and writer Chris O'Dowd has begun filming the "re-envisioned" remake of Elmore Leonard's dark comedy thriller Get Shorty in Los Angeles. Production will also take place in Albuquerque through to May 2017.

28 October 2016

Voting for best Irish crime fiction novel


Online voting is currently under way for this year's Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, including the crime fiction shortlist.

27 October 2016

'How to Slay a Literary Agent' in Dun Laoghaire


Sam Blake, Catherine Ryan Howard and Liz Nugent will discuss "How to Slay a Literary Agent" at the Lexicon Library in Dun Laoghaire at 7 pm on 24 November 2016. All three authors have been shortlisted in the crime fiction category of this year's Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Tickets via Eventbrite.ie

24 October 2016

Crime fiction course in NI with Declan Burke


Award-winning Irish crime writer and journalist Declan Burke will present a one-day course on 3rd December at Ranfurly House in Dungannon, County Tyrone, about writing crime novels. Declan has published six novels and is editor of the recently published anthology of short stories Trouble is Our Business.

Book a place via event organisers the Irish Writers' Centre.

23 October 2016

Ian Rankin in Belfast


Ian Rankin comes to Belfast this December to talk about and sign copies of his latest Rebus novel. The event organised by the No Alibis bookshop takes place at the Redeemer Central Church,101 Donegall Street, on 9th December 2016 at 7.30 pm as part of his UK tour to promote Rather Be the Devil.

18 October 2016

'Line of Duty' back on the streets of Belfast


Filming is well under way in Belfast for the fourth season of Line of Duty.  Such is the success of the gritty police series that it will be moving from BBC 2 to BBC 1.

17 October 2016

Killer Reads publishes Tanya Farrelly debut


Tanya Farrelly's debut novel The Girl Behind the Lens is published by Killer Reads this month. It's a dark psychological thriller set around the time of the big freeze in Dublin in 2010.

14 October 2016

Christy Kenneally's Fr Flaherty detective series


Christy Kenneally has written some 10 books, including three of his "Father Michael Flaherty" crime thrillers. The Flaherty character is more an action hero than a clerical detective, and the series begins with Second Son (2005).

12 October 2016

Raymond Chandler's Waterford connections


Irish crime writers Alan Glynn and Declan Hughes will take part in a commemoration of Raymond Chandler's Waterford connections at the city's annual Imagine Arts Festival this October.

7 October 2016

Denise Gough to star in 'Paula' revenge thriller


Production has begun in Belfast on the BBC's new three-part revenge thriller Paula. It stars Denise Gough in the title role, with a cast including Tom Hughes and Owen McDonnell and a script by leading Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson.

28 September 2016

BBC journalist John Sweeney's Irish hero


Award-winning English journalist John Sweeney became a YouTube sensation in 2007 after losing his temper with a senior member of the Church of Scientology.

His new crime thriller, Cold, has an Irish hero called Joe Tiplady who is swept up in a wave of violence and retribution.

27 September 2016

Caimh McDonnell's new comic crime caper



Stand-up comedian and scriptwriter Caimh McDonnell's debut novel A Man With One Of Those Faces is a comic crime caper set in his home town of Dublin.

26 September 2016

'Something Wicked' crime festival in Malahide


This year's "Something Wicked" Malahide Crime Writing Festival takes place on the October bank holiday weekend of 28th to 30th October.

24 September 2016

Hercule Poirot comes to Clonakilty, Co Cork


Published this month, Sophie Hannah's second Hercule Poirot novel, Closed Casket, has an Irish setting.

23 September 2016

Trailer: Cillian Murphy in 'Free Fire'



Cillian Murphy is among a very starry cast in the crime caper Free Fire, currently doing the festival circuit and due for general release next March.

16 September 2016

Bangor author Simon Maltman's new crime novel


Simon Maltman is a writer and musician from Bangor, Couty Down. His first full-length novel, published this week, is the modern noir A Chaser on the Rocks.

15 September 2016

@BookShowRTE crime special at Dublin Castle



Irish authors Liz Nugent, Arlene Hunt and Declan Hughes will take part in a live discussion about crime fiction on RTÉ Radio 1's Books Show on Culture Night this Friday, 16th September. They will also read a short story specially written for the night.

9 September 2016

Events: Stuart Neville and William Ryan


Stuart Neville and William Ryan are among the crime fiction writers taking part in the latest "First Monday" event at City University London on October 3rd at 6.30 pm.

8 September 2016

Director John Boorman pens 'Crime of Passion'


Award-winning film director John Boorman has penned his first novel. Described as darkly comic, Crime of Passion (Liberties Press) is set in the Cannes Film Festival.

3 September 2016

John Le Carré readings



The Guardian newspaper is celebrating the publication of John le Carré’s first memoir The Pigeon Tunnel by running extracts from the book, as well as short videos of actors reading from his novels. In many cases the actors were also in the film adaptations of the books.

1 September 2016

Crime fiction writers at Tallaght book festival


The Red Line Book Festival and New Island Books are hosting an evening of crime writing on October 12th in Tallaght, featuring four leading Irish crime authors.

Declan Burke will chair the event at the Civic Theatre at 8 pm with Alan Glynn, Declan Hughes and Alex Barclay. They will discuss the crime-writing process, gripping plots and characters, and Irish crime fiction past and present.

30 August 2016

Irish detective novels come to the Big Apple


Authors John Connolly, Declan Hughes and Stuart Neville will be taking part in the New York launch of the academic collection of essays The Contemporary Irish Detective Novel and Neville's latest novel So Say the Fallen.

29 August 2016

Graham Norton to discuss his crime novel in Dublin


Graham Norton will be in Dublin on 17 October to promote his debut novel. The evening event at the Mansion House on Dawson Street will include an interview and an audience Q&A. The €25 tickets include a signed copy of his new book.

26 August 2016

Irish crime fiction in Silicon Valley


Irish crime fiction is under the spotlight in several sessions at this year's Los Gatos Listowel writing festival in Silicon Valley. The Californian town of Los Gatos is twinned with Listowel in County Kerry, and the festival takes place from 6 to 9 October 2016.

24 August 2016

Trailer: season 3 of 'The Fall' is on the way



Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson are about to return as serial killer Paul Spector and police detective Stella Gibson in the third and probably final season of BBC crime drama The Fall. The latest series will be broadcast later this autumn, but the first public screening of its first episode will be to delegates at the Edinburgh International Television Festival tomorrow night (25 August).

Elaine Cassidy begins filming new RTÉ thriller


Elaine Cassidy (above) is about to start filming Acceptable Risk, the six-part thriller announced earlier this week as part of RTÉ television's new season.

16 August 2016

Paddy Slattery crowdfunds new crime thriller



Irish writer/director Paddy Slattery has begun crowdfunding via Indiegogo for his new crime thriller The Broken Law of Attraction.

11 August 2016

Trailer for the BBC's 'One of Us' thriller



The BBC says it will begin showing One of Us, its new four-part crime thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, from 23 August at 9 pm on BBC 1.

8 August 2016

Curtis Brown signs 'Farr' director Aidan Largey


Writer/director Aidan Largey has been signed by talent agency Curtis Brown. The pilot for his 2015 TV crime drama Farr was filmed in Belfast as part of the RTÉ Player's "Storyland" platform, in four six-minute episodes.

30 July 2016

New crime anthology 'Trouble Is Our Business'


Trouble Is Our Business, a new anthology of short stories by leading Irish crime writers, will be published by New Island Books this September.

26 July 2016

Troubles thriller 'The Psalm Killer' reissued


Chris Petit's 1997 Belfast-based thriller The Psalm Killer has been reissued by Picador Classic.

22 July 2016

Patricia Gibney signs four-book deal


Patricia Gibney has been signed by Bookouture in a four-book deal. The Mullingar writer's debut novel, the crime thriller Remember Me, is due to be published in April 2017.

21 July 2016

'The Black-Eyed Blonde' for the big screen


Scannain.com reports that leading Irish director John Crowley and The Departed screenwriter William Monahan have been lined up for a feature film version of The Black-Eyed Blonde, John Banville's 2014 novel written as Benjamin Black.

20 July 2016

Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan in 'Anthropoid'



Irish actors Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan head the cast in Anthropoid, based on the true story of a pair of Czech and Slovak-born soldiers in exile who were parachuted into their homeland to assassinate leading Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in World War II.

16 July 2016

Toby Jones in Conrad's 'The Secret Agent'



The first episode of BBC 1's lavish new adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel The Secret Agent goes out on 9 p.m. on Sunday, 17 July 2016.

15 July 2016

Craig McDonald to give Dublin reading


Award-winning American crime writer and journalist Craig McDonald will discuss his work on 3 August 2016 at 6 p.m. at Peruke & Periwig on Dawson Street in Dublin. There will be a book signing afterwards, all welcome.

Three Chords and the Truth, the final novel in his Hector Lassiter series, will be published next November.

Read more crime fiction events.


11 July 2016

'I Am Not a Serial Killer' trailer



Irish/US co-production I Am Not a Serial Killer features Max Records and Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd. Directed by Billy O’Brien, the supernatural thriller is an adaptation of Dan Wells's novel of the same name and was shot in Minnesota.

6 July 2016

Debut thriller by Wexford author Cat Hogan


Published this week, Cat Hogan’s debut novel They All Fall Down is set in a fictional fishing village in County Wexford.

The psychological thriller has already received a ringing endorsement from her fellow Wexford writer Eoin Colfer: "If the Gone Girl met the Girl on the Train, they would have come up with They All Fall Down."

4 July 2016

iBAM 2016 Literature Award for Ken Bruen


Ken Bruen will be presented with this year’s iBAM Award for Literature on the opening day of the 2016 iBAM (Irish Books, Arts, and Music) celebrations.

30 June 2016

Finland conference on crime narratives


The University of Tampere in Finland is to host a one-day academic conference on “New Approaches to Studying Crime Narratives” on 14 October 2016.

There is no conference fee, but participants must cover all costs for their travel, accommodation and subsistence.

29 June 2016

BOTM: 'The Secret' by Deric Henderson


Our June Book of the Month: The Secret (2016).

Originally published as Let This Be Our Secret (2011), it has just been republished as a media tie-in to the ITV drama starring James Nesbitt and Genevieve O'Reilly.

28 June 2016

More drama from Iceland: season 2 of 'Fortitude'


Iceland is increasingly the setting of psychological thrillers and crime dramas on the small screen, and more are in the pipeline.

23 June 2016

Crime at the Dublin Writers' Conference


There are no fewer than four crime writers taking part at the Dublin Writers' Conference this weekend, from 24 to 26 June 2016 - Louise Phillips, Michael Russell, Sheila Bugler and Laurence O'Bryan.

This is the second year of the conference, which takes place at the Irish Writers Centre and at the Gresham hotel nearby. It includes sessions for writers on digital marketing and writing craft.

22 June 2016

Frankie Gaffney live in the Gingerman pub



Frankie Gaffney reading from his debut novel Dublin Seven in Dublin earlier this month, filmed by Dave Lordan of Bog TV.

21 June 2016

TV3's Red Rock comes to daytime BBC


Red Rock, TV3's award-winning drama serial set around a busy garda station, comes to BBC daytime television this summer. TV3 chief Pat Kiely has described it as "one of the biggest export deals in the history of Irish broadcasting". Amazon Prime has also snapped up the series for €1.5 million.

20 June 2016

'Dead Along the Way' is on the way


Dead Along The Way is a new Irish crime comedy about a pair of wedding videographers who are trying to hide the corpse of their loan shark before a wedding.

16 June 2016

Major new study on crime fiction and the state


Belfast-based academic Andrew Pepper has penned five detective novels set in 19th-century Britain and Ireland. He is also Senior Lecturer in English and American literature at Queen's University, specialising "mainly in the areas of transnational crime fiction, spy/espionage fiction and contemporary fiction that examines security and policing issues".

His new study Unwilling Executioner: Crime Fiction and the State (Oxford University Press) describes itself as "the first book to explore the significance of crime fiction's relationship to the state".

15 June 2016

Noir at the Bar, Belfast


The Noir at the Bar crime fiction evening in the Belfast Book Festival has a stellar line-up: Gerard Brennan - who has curated the evening - Steve Cavanagh, Kelly Creighton, Brian McGilloway and Stuart Neville.

It takes place on Wednesday, 15 June 2016, at 8.30 pm in the Errigle Inn on the Ormeau Road (the pub is also showing the Euro 2016 matches). Tickets via the Crescent Arts Centre.

13 June 2016

Crime novelists at Edinburgh book festival


The 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival, which runs from 13 to 29 August, features over 800 writers, poets, illustrators, politicians, journalists, historians, scientists, philosophers and playwrights from 55 countries.

9 June 2016

Martin Compston to play serial killer on ITV

(C) World Productions – Photographer: Mark Bourdillon
Scottish actor and former professional footballer Martin Compston is to play a serial killer for ITV. Compton, who plays DS Steve Arnott in the BBC's Line Of Duty, will take on the role of American-born Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel.